NCAA Basketball Pick: Dayton at Ohio State

by Thomas Jensen on Wednesday, March 26th, 2008

Two teams that just missed getting into the NCAA Tournament will meet in the NIT quarterfinals on Wednesday as Ohio State hosts Dayton. The Buckeyes have defeated UNC Asheville (84-66) and California (73-56) while Dayton has won against Cleveland State (66-57) and Illinois State (55-48). SBG Global reports that early NCAA Basketball betting has the public taking Ohio State at Home.

The winner of the game will take on the winner of the game between Virginia Tech and Mississippi in the NIT Semifinals in New York next week. Ohio State is 3-2 overall in the series with Dayton that was first played in 1934 and most recently in 1988. The Buckeyes are 1-1 vs. the Flyers in Columbus. Ohio State is 29-13 vs. the Atlantic 10 in their history.

Head coach Thad Matta, who coached for three seasons in the Atlantic 10 Conference while the head coach at Xavier, is 7-1 all-time vs. Dayton. Ohio State is 14-3 in Value City Arena this season and 2-0 at St. John Arena. Wednesday’s game will be at the Value City Arena. Ohio State is playing Dayton on the anniversary of the 1986 NIT title game that the Buckeyes won over Wyoming 73-63.

SBG Global Current Line: Ohio State -8, Total 125.5

Dayton enters the game winning six of its last seven. The Flyers are making their 14th appearance in the NIT quarterfinals and their first since the 2000-01 season. Dayton’s defense has held 13 straight opponents to less than 50 percent shooting from the field.

Here are the NCAA Basketball betting stats for Wednesday’s game. The Flyers are 7-1 ATS in their last 8 non-conference games. The Flyers are 4-1 ATS in their last 5 games vs. a team with a winning record. The Flyers are 4-1 ATS in their last 5 games overall. The Flyers are 1-4 ATS in their last 5 Wednesday games.

The Buckeyes are 5-0 ATS in their last 5 non-conference games. The Buckeyes are 11-5-1 ATS in their last 17 games vs. a team with a winning record.

The Over is 7-2 in the Flyers last 9 non-conference games. The Under is 5-2 in the Flyers last 7 Wednesday games.

The Under is 5-1 in the Buckeyes last 6 Wednesday games. The Under is 8-2 in the Buckeyes last 10 non-conference games. The Under is 10-4 in the Buckeyes last 14 home games.